The Disloyal Master
by Wickedwitch90
Summary: Bellatrix fails to get the prophecy at the Ministry.  Voldemort is furious, but he is about to discover something about her which he will like even less.


_I don't own the characters (Rowling does), only the plot._

_Many thanks to Livvie for betareading._

* * *

It was a chilly night and in the room wasn't anything to bring some warmth, except for a few burning pieces of wood in the fireplace. But the man who was sitting in the room didn't feel the cold. He had other things to care about. 

He was pacing around, wondering why it went wrong this time. Once again he failed to kill Harry Potter, and that old fool, Dumbledore. And his Death Eaters… it was a disgrace. They were incapable of _anything,_ including handling a few children. Even Bellatrix, who always claimed to be his most loyal servant, had been totally useless.

How could he, Lord Voldemort, return to his former glory when every attempt to regain some of his previous power failed so miserably? How many times had he tried it already? And today it went wrong, _again._

He would punish all the idiots who had been at the Ministry and ruined his chance to get the prophecy. Bellatrix would be the first. There wasn't any particular reason for that; the fact that she was the one who told him about it was enough.

Seconds later someone knocked on the door.

"Yes?" Voldemort said, while he sat down in his chair, as far removed from the fireplace as possible.

The door opened, and he turned around his chair to see who was on the doorstep. It was a Death Eater, one of those less important ones but good enough to do some of the dirty work.

"My Lord?" the figure wearing the mask said. "We've got her."

"Bring her in," commanded the man with the red eyes.

He opened the door completely, thus revealing two more Death Eaters who carried a rather wild person between them. Said person was dressed exactly the same as the men who held her; one could only recognize her as female because of the long strains of dark hair which were visible beneath her mask.

They tried to bring the woman into the room, but that wasn't easy, because she tried to kick and hit them.

"Let me go, I can walk myself! Don't bring me here like a captive," she screamed.

Voldemort took his wand, and silenced her. He ignored her frantic attempts to speak, and turned his attention to the other Death Eaters. Now the three of them were trying to avoid getting hurt by the still furious woman.

"Like you will know," Voldemort said softly, "desperate measures have to be taken to make sure this was the last time something like this happened. I'm going to show those unworthy servants that I won't tolerate this lax behavior of theirs anymore."

The three relatively inexperienced Death Eaters tried to hide their fear.

"Leave her with me, and go," he commanded.

They threw her at the floor of the dimly lit room. She remained lying at his feet, without moving, unable to meet his eyes. He sat back in his chair, and looked at her with amusement. When she calmed down at last, he removed the silencing spell.

"My Lord…" she immediately spoke. "I am so very sorry for the loss of the prophecy, but…"

He didn't let her finish her sentence.

"I'm not here to listen to your poor excuses, _Mrs. Lestrange_," he said.

She hated it when she was called 'Mrs. Lestrange' by him, and he knew it.

"My Lord…" she started again.

"Silence!" he shouted. "I'm sick of it!"

Bellatrix leant back in shock; she had never seen Voldemort so angry. Usually he _was_ angry, but he never showed it. Never, until tonight.

Instead of trying again to interrupt him, she remained silent while hoping he would be his normal self again soon.

"You knew the prophecy was of great importance to me," he continued. "Of all people, you knew that. And still… you failed so _miserably_. And you _knew_ how desperately I needed it. It almost seems…" his voice was softer now, but even more dangerous, "…like you don't _want_ me to have that prophecy."

This time she felt she had to answer.

"You must believe me, my Lord, that I'd give everything to undo my mistakes. I did the best I could, we could hurt a few of… we almost could get…"

Voldemort took his wand and used once more a silencing spell on her.

"EXCUSES!" he shouted. "Always excuses."

'My Lord, I'm so sorry, but…' 'My Lord, we did everything we could, but… My Lord, it should have worked, but…'

"Always those _excuses. _I can't stand it anymore! How am I supposed to defeat all those mudbloods and other betrayers when my servants are so _useless_?"

Bellatrix tried so say something again, though she was still magically silenced, but before she could even open her mouth, he continued his tirade.

"You were in charge tonight. I _know_ you want to say that Lucius Malfoy is to blame…"

She looked up, surprised, to look into her master's cold eyes.

"Bellatrix, Bellatrix, Bellatrix," he whispered. "Do you _really _think I'm that _stupid_? Did you underestimate me _again_? I thought you would _know _by now that my skill of Legilimency is quite well developed. You say you'd give everything to undo your mistake. Well sadly that won't do, because that isn't how the world works. The only thing you can do now is to make sure this won't happen again. But I already told you that _last_ time. It didn't help. So I think I should make myself this time a little bit more _clear_. If I'm truly your Lord, then _show_ me."

She watched him, fearless, knowing that this would be over soon, and that the next time she would get a change to show her loyalty, she would take it, and she would rewarded in the most unimaginable ways. Then he would finally see her as an equal, someone with whom he could share his plans, and maybe even more…

She humbly lowered her head, waiting for his anger to vanish. He couldn't really be angry with her, she thought, because she was after all the only one who really cared about him. People always said that he was incapable of love, but she knew better. There would come a day he would recognize her love for him, and her loyalty would be rewarded.

"Crucio!"

A fraction of a second before the spell hit her she looked up, surprised; she never heard a third person coming into the room, the one she presumed her Lord was torturing. Once she realized Voldemort's curse was meant for her, the horrible pain caused by the spell was nothing compared to the emotional pain she felt. How could he possibly have done that?

Voldemort watched delighted how the woman in front of him was in pain. This 'loyal' servant would know now what it was like to be disappointed. Hopefully she would do her best more next time.

He lifted the curse, and she lay on the floor, breathing heavily and motionless, not knowing what to expect next. She wasn't sure of anything anymore now her Lord treated her like this.

He kneeled next to her, and looked her in the eye. He used his Legilimency skills, and she didn't try to deny him the access to her brain. She had nothing to hide for him.

Voldemort searched in her memories to find anything that would prove his presumption that she'd been to so little help on purpose. To his surprise, he didn't find any clues of that. His surprise grew even more because of what he found when he dwelled in the deepest parts of her mind.

She lowered her head again, afraid of his reaction now he knew of her secret love for him.

He lifted up her chin. The gesture was almost tender, especially if you considered the one who made it, but when she looked at him she knew there was something terrible wrong.

"Bella…" he said softly. "That is incredible stupid of you. Love makes people weak. Love is for cowards. You disappointed me, Bella. I thought you'd be stronger, and wiser."

There was rejecting in his eyes. She didn't try to speak, because she was still magically silenced and she didn't want to be embarrassed more.

The pieces of her heart that had remained during the hard years in Azkaban broke at that moment. For the first time since her earliest years the proud witch started to cry. Voldemort's look hardened when he saw the tears on her extremely pale face.

"You foolish woman!" he hissed. "What would your _husband_ think of this?"

The comment hurt her deeply, just like all this remarks that night did. She didn't love her husband, she had never loved him and she would never have married him if her parents hadn't forced her. She had been in love with her master since the first moments she had seen him. It was cliché, of course, the kind she always had been laughing about when she was just a girl.

Her crying became louder, with annoyed Voldemort almost even more than the fact that she had ruined his chances to get the prophecy. He hated the sight of the pathetic woman at his feet; the woman who was supposed to be the right hand of the most dangerous wizard the world had ever known. Hoping that she would stop behaving like a baby when she could talk again, he lifted the silencing spell.

"I'm ashamed of you, Bella, do you know that?"

She sobbed even harder, and she crawled towards him to touch his robe.

"Master… my Lord…"

Finally she dared to look him in the eyes. The redness of them didn't scare her, and she stared in them with a desperate need for comfort. She tried to ignore the hate and disappointment which was written all over his face, and when she looked intensely into his eyes, she noticed something like fear in them. Relieved she had seen anything that actually was human, her love and longing for him made her forget everything that happened that evening.

"Tom…" she whispered to him, and reached out to touch his knee.

He stepped away from her as quickly as possible, and at that moment she knew she had gone way too far.

"CRUCIO!" he shouted, both infuriated and afraid because she said the name he had been running from all those years. All his fear and anger were in the spell, and now the silencing spell was lifted, the entire manor could hear her heartbreaking screams.

After a few minutes she didn't move anymore, nor did she try to talk. Breathing heavily Voldemort watched her body for what felt like ages. He shook his head and left the room, confused, slamming the door behind him.

She heard voices, far away but she didn't want to open her eyes. She felt very relaxed: the pain was gone, and there was no fear or embarrassment anymore. It seemed like she was carried away in a boat, floating on a calm and endless river.

The last part of her mind noticed one of the voices saying: "The poor woman. The Dark Lord went a little bit too far this time."

Bella couldn't understand what they were talking about. She smiled a bit, a happy and honest smile. She knew she would see Tom very soon. He was waiting for her.


End file.
